Ignorance makes Jakarta floods worse
Ignorance makes Jakarta floods worse
By T. Sima Gunawan
JAKARTA (JP): Even though the environment has become one of the major global issues, not all people are aware of the importance of the subject. Lack of environmental awareness has often hampered the implementation of sustainable development principles.
Indonesia started to consider the environment seriously in 1978 with the establishment of the Office of the State Minister for Population and Environment. Emil Salim, a prominent economist, held the position for three terms of office. In 1993 the population issue was separated from the office and Sarwono Kusumaatmadja was appointed as State Minister of Environment. Sarwono also heads the Office for Environmental Impact Management (Bapedal), which was set up in 1992.
Born in Jakarta in 1943, Sarwono is a graduate of the Bandung Institute of Technology. A student activist, he became a member of the House of Representatives in 1971, three years before graduating. He was the secretary general of the ruling Golkar party from 1983 to 1988 and was appointed a minister of administrative reform in 1988.
An outspoken bureaucrat, Sarwono is a younger brother of former Minister of Foreign Affairs Mochtar Kusumaatmadja.
He is married to Nini Maramis, an official at the Ministry of Public Works, and has four children.
He talked to The Jakarta Post in his office on Friday about the recent floods in the city, which killed more than 30 people and caused almost Rp 90 billion in material losses, as well as other environmental problems and related issues.
Question: Jakarta was hit by severe floods in January and February. What really happened to cause the disaster?
Answer: It's a global problem. There were floods all over the world, in China, the United States and Europe. What happened in Jakarta during the last month is part of this phenomenon. It was connected to climatic change. Experts say that since the beginning of this century the average temperature in the world has risen by around half degree Celsius, which means that there is more evaporation, which has led to a change in weather patterns. In the rainy season we have more rain, and in the dry season it becomes drier. As you know in January, many offices in cities in the U.S. had to be closed because of the snow and in the Mid-West the temperature dropped to minus 50 degrees Fahrenheit.
Q: How about the idea that the floods in Jakarta took place because of unsustainable development which resulted in the shrinking of water catchment areas?
A: It is true enough. The floods did have local causes, and also some regional causes. But in my opinion, even if the urban management in Jakarta had been better, the kind of floods we had were going to happen anyway. Maybe that would have been more bearable if the local conditions had been better. We could have done something to lessen the impact. But please remember, even the U.S. was caught in a wave of similar floods.
Q: What should we do in the future to prevent such floods?
A: We have to take action on several levels. On the local level, we have to ensure better drainage, getting people to move off river banks, and managing the water pumping system properly. And then regionally, we have to secure the environmental functions of the countryside around Jakarta.
It's a long-term solution. It won't give immediate benefits, but it has to be done.
Aside from that we have to take care of the water catchment areas around Puncak, West Java. The government has decided to treat Bogor and Puncak as conservation areas, as water catchment areas. This should have been done a long time ago.
Q: What are the constraints which make it difficult to implement the decision?
A: People have no perception on how important it is. And there is also an element of conflict of interest.
For the local government in Bogor and Puncak, physical development is considered a good thing because of the revenues obtained, but new buildings have environmental consequences down stream. But downstream is somebody else' territory.
Q: Is the conflict of interest the biggest problem that you have?
A: Yes, and the second thing is the lack of (environmental) perception.
Q: Who lacks this perception?
A: Everybody. Not only the government, but also the people involved in physical activities. Flooding is always something that happens to other people. If you build something you are not really aware that you might be causing other people problems.
Q: How about the lack of coordination?
A: There is a lack of coordination because of the conflicts of interest and the lack of perception.
Q: What can you do to change the public's perception?
A: The government has to demonstrate its determination to steer development effectively and through this people's attitudes should change.
Q: You have to cooperate with other departments to do so.
A Yes, and there is an agency implementing this coordination, the National Agency for the Coordination of Spatial Management.
Q: But how can you cooperate if people lack environmental awareness?
A: We have to continually develop people's awareness. No effective coordination can come about without the right perception or awareness. It's not easy to achieve and it takes time.
Q: Back to the flood problems, some say that reclamation of the Jakarta Bay also contributed to the floods.
A: We have to take into account the changing weather pattern. If the reclamation is done, solely on the basis of the existing data, it won't be sufficient. It can be misleading. I am not against reclamation itself, but what I'm saying is that anything you do in the Jakarta Bay area will have to consider environmental implications.
It does not make sense for the developers to ignore the weather constraints because if they do they will suffer. They have to think of the future because this is always a long-term provision. I don't know anybody who would be stupid enough to take on a major project and at the same time ignore the environment.
Q: Are you saying that the accusation is groundless?
A: I'd rather trust the common sense of the developers themselves to decide that it would not be in their interests to ignore the changing weather pattern.
Q: The toll road heading to the Soekarno-Hatta airport was completely blocked by the floods. Isn't there something wrong?
A: Things went wrong in the past. People (developers) were not aware of impending climatic changes. But now people can't ignore them anymore because the evidence has become so obvious.
Q: How about the building of golf courses? Don't you think this could endanger the environment?
A: That is an example where the government has to show strong leadership in the management of the permit system. And again it is a question of perception. If the perception is not there, people will see nothing wrong in the development of golf courses.
Q: What is your stance on this case?
A: I am against building more golf courses and I think the administrations in Jakarta and West Java have already stopped issuing permits. So, what we are now witnessing is the building of golf courses from permits which have been issued. This is becoming a public nuisance because you can't withdraw those permits without compensating the parties concerned.
The trick is to control these permits in accordance with sound environmental principles and this is not very easy to do because of the lack of perception.
Q: But don't we have problems with control and supervision?
A: It all centers on how we manage our space. According to the (1992) National Spatial Management Act, people have the right to influence the spatial plan of the region. How people exercise the right will be controlled in a government regulation.
Q: Why is it taking so long to draft the regulation?
A: It always takes a long time for the government to draw up regulations.
Q: What is the problem?
A: Communication. A government regulation can only come about as a joint effort of several departments and it takes a long time.
A: How about the political will?
A: It is there. But to tell you the truth, the government is overloaded because we are facing changing times now. So government officials are busy drawing various regulations on many subjects. There is a big backlog.
Q: Are you saying that the environment is not a major priority?
A: It is a priority, but there are lots of things which have to be juggled. We have to make strenuous efforts to push through environmental regulations.
We are concerned with free trade, with education, and how to open up the region for economic development. It is not easy to run this country. Too many things are happening at the same time.
Q: Critics say that there is collusion between business and government officials, which can result in environmental problems.
A: That happens. Again this is because of a lack of perception. People are more interested in short-term gains.
Q: The 1982 Environmental Act carries a maximum 10-year jail term and Rp 100 million fine. How about giving the violators more severe punishment as a type of shock therapy?
A: It does not always work. It only works in a country which has a strong legal tradition. If there is no strong legal tradition, legal enforcement will not work well and sometimes may even backfire. Indonesia does not have a strong legal tradition. So we have to find other ways.
Q: What are the other ways?
A: Creating pressure through public opinion, economic incentives and competition. I'm not saying that law enforcement is not important. But we need more legal awareness, this has to be developed first. We have to have a better judicial system and credible legal officers to deal with the cases. If we don't have that, there's no use in making legal instruments the leading way of tackling the issue.
Q: How about the Clean River Program and the Business performance Rating Program for pollution control evaluation and rating of companies?
A: The programs provide incentives and dis-incentives for industry and use information as a major tool to affect behavior.
Q: How effective are they?
A: They have sharpened up industries, especially those rated "black" (the worst polluters). If you publicize who they are, then action will automatically happen. Some of the polluters in the "red" category have been published and I will publish more in anticipation of the dry season, when there will be less water and more pollution.
We also have plans to make ratings for real estates, apartments and office buildings. We will carry out the plan in two or three years time.
Q: Won't it be too late by then?
A: We only have 10 people working here in Bapedal, although 16 more will be trained.
Q: We have 195 million people in Indonesia.
A: Who wants to become a civil servant now? The government is no longer attractive to young educated people. You have to be an idealist to enter this office. But idealism without skills is inadequate.
Also Bapedal itself is a new institution. The presidential decision to establish it was drawn up in 1990. It was set up in 1991 and started working in 1992. What do you expect in four years? Do you expect it to deal with the whole country? That is a nonsensical.
Because its size is limited, Bapedal's major tool will be partnership and information. We need strong partnership with other government offices, NGOs, the private sector and the press. Legal enforcement is not in our hands, it is in those of the police and the Attorney General's office.
Q: How important is the NGOs' role?
A: It's very important. But they are losing ground in the sense that they also lack human resources. Because most educated people prefer to join the private sectors, nobody wants to work for the government or for NGOs. You can't equate Indonesian NGOs and those of developed countries. NGOs in Europe and America are groups of people who have a long experience in science business, and government. After they retire from the public life, people often establish NGOs. In Indonesia, an NGO is usually a starting point for young people. So things are different.
Q: What is your plan for the near future?
A: To build up the size of the Bapedal office and to expand the services to other regions. We are starting with three offices in Ujung Pandang, Denpasar, Pakanbaru. The heads of the offices will be placed in a few months time. Then we will recruit people to staff them. Next year local government agencies dealing with pollution control will be established.
There is strong support from the government, from the president, from my colleagues, from the finance minister, and the National Development Planning Board. But even with such very strong support I can only promise to double the size of this office, not expand it by 100 times. That would be wholly unrealistic.
Q: There is a plan to build a nuclear power plant in Central Java. What is your opinion on it?
A: I am not pro or anti the nuclear power plant. What should be taken into consideration is the environmental impact assessment. There are three major things which must be taken into account: safety, waste treatment and decommissioning. What will you do with the equipment after you finish with the project? These things must be clear first before you go ahead with the project.
Q: By the way do you smoke?
A: Yes, sometimes. But I smoke less than I used to. And this has nothing to do with my being the minister of environment. I smoke less because I am too busy to smoke.
Q: Did you ever think that you would become a minister?
A: No. It does not make any sense to have an ambition to become somebody. You can have an ambition to do something but not to become somebody.
People want to be this, they want to be that. But what you actually become in your life is not in your control.
Q: When you were a student what did you want to do?
A: I did not have any great ambitions. I just lived life dealing with things as they came along.
Q: How could you become a minister of administrative reform?
A: I don't know. Maybe President Soeharto thought I was the right person to be in the position.
Q: Were you surprised?
A: Of course I was surprised.
Q: What made you say 'yes' when the president asked you to become a minister?
A: How could I say no? But I was also interested in taking the position because I like taking on new challenges.
Q: After the environment, what next?
A: I don't know, I'll tackle that when the time comes.